Hmm, this topic is sort of mac related...smile... Macs can be used for
database manipulations -- very unwillingly I'll venture to guess but
they still can be used this way.
And to push the point, govt could require that citizens open up their
Macs to outside access. (Not that much of a stretch folks, see the
latest on the DRM stuff).
More below:
On Tuesday, November 19, 2002, at 04:56 PM, Bill Rising wrote:
> On 11/19/02 15:07, Henri Yandell wrote
>
>>
>>
> [snip...]
>>
>> Does the US have any privacy laws? The way that companies happily sell
>> my
>> information off to anyone makes me think not.
>
> I think that there is an unwritten law which is:
>
> You get what you can get away with.
>
> After all, the prez' dad won't have his iran-contra secrets revealed,
> because his son has ignored the laws which say that such /public/
> information should be released.
>
> So... it seems that we are having accountability of the individual, down
> to the amount of corn bought, combined with deniability of the
> organization (govt., bizniz, whatever).
>
> As for Jerry's comment about the Nazis: the gathering of info doesn't
> automatically precede the rise of Killer Fools. It could be far milder
> than jackboots marching in the streets, and still be plenty bad.
>
Yes, the Stalinists perfected the technique of manipulating collected
information to control the population, without the jackboots.
> Imagine this: everybody dumps all their info into a big database. Some
> erroneous information goes into the big database in the sky, and you
> come
> under suspicion for terrorism. No amount of denial will work, of course,
> because guilty people who are clever and devious also deny their guilt.
> More likely, though is that insurance companies will find that you
> have a
> slightly higher risk of cancer and raise your premiums (or heck, cancel
> your insurance). Employers will find that your sentiments lie with the
> unions and not with the owners, and you cannot find a job. You may think
> that gov't has the data, but it'll be a short time until a CEO-prez
> figures out that there is money to be made selling the data.
>
Uh Bill, too late on this one. Read the fine print in your health
insurance policy. The companies have been reporting your information
(claims, etc.) to a centralized collection service (Medical Information
Bureau -- before issuing a policy, insurance companies check here to see
if you have had previous claims then base their policy price on that)
for a while now:
The following comes from ReliaStar (an insurance underwriter)
Begin:
For underwriting and claim purposes, I give my permission to: Any
physician or other medical practioner, hospital, clinic, other medical
or medically related facility, insurance company or reinsurance company,
Medical Information Bureau, Inc. (MIB), Department of Motor Vehicle
Records, employer or any other organization or person to give ReliaStar
Life Insurance Company (ReliaStar Life) or its authorized representative
(including ChoicePoint or any consumer reporting agency) acting on its
behalf ALL INFORMATION on my behalf (except as limited below), including
findings on medical care, psychiatric or psychological care or
examination, surgery or any non?medical information, including motor
vehicle records, as they apply to any person who is to be covered. I
give my permission to ReliaStar Life to get consumer or investigative
consumer reports about the same persons.
I give my permission to ReliaStar Life to get any and all such
information for the purposes described in this form. I specifically
consent to the re-disclosure of such information as set forth in this
form. I know that my medical records, including any alcohol or drug
abuse information, may be protected by Federal Regulations ? 42 CFR Part
2. I may revoke this authorization as it applies to any information
protected by 42 CFR Part 2 at any time, but not to the extent action has
been taken on reliance on it.
I understand all or part of the information obtained by this
authorization may be communicated between ReliaStar Life and its
affiliates and may be sent to MIB. This information may be made
available to any ReliaStar Life affiliate, re-insurer, employee, or
contractor who processes transactions that concern any coverage I may
have requested or have with ReliaStar Life or its affiliates.
I understand that my additional written consent will be required before
any information described above is given, sold, transferred, or, in any
way, relayed to another party not previously specified (unless otherwise
provided by law). My additional consent must be provided on a form that
states the new use of the information or why another party needs it.
End
Right now there are limitations on what can be done with this info...
Soon there may not be.
Jerry
> Bill
>
> The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will be November 26
> For more information, see <http://www.aye.net/~lcs>. A calendar of
> activities is at <http://www.calsnet.net/macusers>.
>
>
>
>
The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will be November 26
For more information, see <http://www.aye.net/~lcs>. A calendar of
activities is at <http://www.calsnet.net/macusers>.
